Welcome to the Local Alliance Blog

The “Six Weeks of Summer” are half gone already. Some of you will welcome their end, others will not. Either way, the advice on how to enjoy yourself safely outside is still a useful read .I also came across this new Government coronavirus data dashboard with easy to understand charts you may, like me, find quite useful. There is also the weekly West Sussex report as well .  Are you marking #VJDay75 on Saturday? Similarly to the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May, there is a website of resources you can use to help you do so .The Royal British Legion have also gathered stories from survivors, produced an interactive map and put together other useful information about it here . Southern Water would like us to share with you their Covid-19 website and this advice on how we can all try to #ReduceYourUse and give nature a helping hand by taking simple steps to lower our water consumption .The recent hot weather has added to the increased domestic consumption caused by Covid-19 and m...

Did you know there is a West Sussex Youth Cabinet and our area has its own representative? Donna and I were pleasantly surprised when Jorja got in touch - click here to learn more . We have happily agreed to help her however we can. (There may still be a vacancy for an additional representative if any young person is interested.) Whilst on things democratic, the government is consulting about its proposed planning reforms - see what you think . Our area has more Sites of Scientific Special Interest than the South Downs National Park and we also have more internationally designated wildlife harbours than any other British District, not to mention the AONB. Three quarters of all visitors to the District stay on the Manhood, making it an intrinsic part of our economy. Should we be on the ‘protected’ list? Things are quietening down, but not stopping completely. Donna is still dealing with some issues our smaller businesses have, related to the financial impact of Covid, I have been asked ...

You may have read about the refusal of an application for a Gypsy Traveller site in Selsey . The applicant wanted to change the permitted use of some unused commercial land. After Selsey Town Council and over 200 residents objected to the loss of potential employment space, a report confirmed that there had been no such interest. Subsequently, a potential developer contacted us. Donna, as a member of CDC’s Planning Committee, has to stay neutral; I secured a short delay for Officers to ascertain if this was a genuine commercial interest. As you can see the loss of employment land formed part of their decision to refuse . Obviously, the applicant can appeal.  Also in the news is the defeat of our proposal for a Peninsula Recovery Group. Donna and I want to thank those of you who continue to share your disappointment with us. Last weekend we were photographed for the Chichester Observer who featured the story online and in print. You may have seen Spirit FM also ran it .  We we...

The most important thing Donna and I want to do in this post is to say thank you for all the supportive messages since our Tuesday post, which shared the unfortunate news that our proposal for a separate recovery group for the four Peninsula wards, open to every village who wanted to participate, was defeated; sadly, and ironically, although 7 of the 8 City Councillors present agreed with us (their Mayor was particularly eloquent in our favour) their votes were cancelled out by others outside of the City. The expectation is that our post COVID recovery will be facilitated through our Visions which, of course, are longer term and aspirational and which do not give our High Streets and businesses the support they need now. One resident told us that they felt that these Councillors should be called to ‘give an account’ of why they voted against the motion for a designated Recovery Team. A positive outcome from the Full Council meeting on Tuesday was agreement to increase short stay homele...

Did CDC give us the “Thumbs Up” today for a local economic Recovery Group? If you read our post on Friday - thanks to all those of you who did and expressed their support - you will be aware that today was Full Council and we asked for our area to have its own Recovery Group like Chichester because our population is as big and the knock-on effects from the ‘hit’ on leisure & tourism will affect us all to a lesser or greater extent.  The other Opposition Councillors were very supportive, arguing this would provide a clear Manhood focus and give us a stronger voice. The press quoted my pointing out that rightly or wrongly local people feel they are forgotten. Sadly the Ruling Group en masse disagreed so when it came to the vote we were defeated. Today we felt it appropriate to only update you on the outcome of our proposal; on Friday, as usual, we will update you on the other developments this week.  As always, stay safe Tim P.S. This is our press release. At Chichester Dist...

If you were asked to recommend somewhere for a walk or bike ride where would you choose? I mention this because, as part of Sussex Safer Roads , CDC are reminding us to wear appropriate clothing and a helmet, and make sure your bike is safe to ride before you go. Meanwhile Chichester Harbour, are reminding us of the “Itchenor Circular” four mile stroll around Chichester Harbour . A lot of locals keep dogs and enjoy walking them along the beach or in the countryside. CDC have just begun a consultation about dogs in public spaces, so please spare the time to share your thoughts .  These are tough times for us all. One of my Facebook friends recently posted a reminder that “the mental health issues related to lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression.” JK, as I will call them, went on to mention that MIND, the mental health charity , have a 24-hour helpline 0300 123 3393. Times are particularly tough for businesses, as we all know. I was really pleased t...

Can you beat this background for virtual meetings? I have used blurring, a fake classroom and tried the bookcase look, but I don’t think anyone could find anything much better than this. Colleagues from my school, and students, seem to agree. As “the six weeks of summer” are nearly with us, a couple of local stories you might have missed concerned a weed problem Covid-19 is causing along the length of the cana l because there have been fewer boat movements and a receptionist at Birdham Primary School, who lives in East Wittering, was honoured by the Royal Humane Society for assisting a 92-year-old driver who suffered a heart attack . Like me, I suspect you may find it interesting to learn that two thirds of new cases in West Sussex recently seem to have been at the opposite end of the county from us, namely in Crawley . Our District seems to be second only to Adur in having the lowest figures. We all value our local businesses, so if you run one of them as well as being assured of our ...